'End of Watch'

Jay Bobbin

Writer-director David Ayer knows how to do a gritty police drama, as he proved with his "Training Day" script, and he shows it again with this effective tale that draws one of Jake Gyllenhaal's standout performances to date.

That actor and Michael Pena ("Crash") play patrol partners who suddenly find themselves in dire danger after running afoul of a drug cartel. Ayer smartly uses a variety of unusual angles to tell the story, which also sets this apart from - and above - many other entries in the genre; Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera also star. DVD extras: five "making-of" documentaries; audio commentary by Ayer; deleted scenes. *** (R: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)